NCJ Number
82643
Date Published
1966
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Findings are presented from an evaluation of a seminar in community relations held by the Detroit Police Department and the Commission of Community Relations.
Abstract
Twice a week for 4 weeks, 50-70 officers attended a 2 1/2 hour class session divided into a lecture by an expert in community relations and a question-answer period for the first part and small-group discussions of seven cases considered typical police-human relations episodes for the second part. The cases were taken from the book, 'Professional Police-Human Relations Training' (Siegel, 1963), and revised slightly to adapt them to a Detroit setting. The overall objective of the program was the development of the skills required for anticipating and performing effectively in the human relations aspects of police work; incidents rooted in factors of race, religion, and national origin; juvenile offenses; civil rights complaints; and community tensions. Participants were asked to assess whether of not each course objective was achieved. Most of the officers felt the course was valuable to them, but many suggested that the cases used in the training could be improved by presenting the officer in the case more favorably and making the cases more typical and realistic. Suggestions for further evaluation are presented.